The Measurement of Burnout Revisited

Throughout the literature, burnout has been conceptualized as encompassing three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Interview and questionnaire data from 95 human service workers examine a conceptual model linking burnout to selected work characteristics and professionalism. Derived from theory and based on factor analysis, multiple-item subscales are established for work characteristics (autonomy, role conflict, role ambiguity and workload), professionalism (job involvement, intrinsic motwation and higher order needs satisfaction) and burnout (the three dimensions). Intercorrelations among the subscales and a path analysis lead to the conclusion that burnout requires reconceptualization theoretically and operationally. Of the three alleged dimensions of burnout, only emotional exhaustion is found to be a valid and reliable measure.     

A Client Satisfaction Measure of Homecare Services for Older Adults

Client satisfaction can be used as an indicator for service quality. Without concrete feedback from clients, however, the usefulness of client satisfaction data for service improvement can be limited. This study described the development of a client satisfaction measure that can be used to provide concrete feedback for service providers. Based on a conceptual framework proposed in the literature, the Client Satisfaction: Home Care (CSAT-HC) uses a client-centered perspective to measure client satisfaction for homecare services for older adults. A survey of 200 older adults receiving homecare services provided by a social service agency in a large U.S. Midwest city was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of CSAT-HC. Results based on the 156 completed surveys show that CSAT-HC has good validity (correlation r = .62 with a popular client satisfaction measure) and test-retest reliability (r = .75). These results indicate that CSAT-HC is a valid and reliable client satisfaction measure; and therefore, providers of homecare services for older adults can use CSAT-HC to obtain client feedback for quality assurance or program evaluation purpose. Future research may use CSAT-HC to explore the potential influences of quality of homecare services on the well-being of older adult clients.     

Evaluating the psychometrics of the SSIS SEL in a socio-economically diverse sample

The increasing interest in implementing social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions within schools calls for more reliable and valid assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of SEL programs. We investigated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Social Skills Improvement System – Social-Emotional Learning Edition (SSIS SEL) with a group of ethnically and socio-economically diverse grade 3 students in Ontario, Canada (n = 427). The SSIS SEL is an age-normed measure used for the evaluation of interventions and prevention initiatives. Data collected included both teacher-report and student self-report measures. The factor structure proposed by the scale developers was not replicated using this smaller single grade sample. However, the study demonstrates evidence of good construct and convergent validity supporting the novel factor structure. Results from this study suggest that more research on the SSIS SEL's application in real-world intervention research programs is needed.     

Psychometric properties of an adapted version of the parental sense of competence (PSOC) scale for Portuguese at‐risk parents

Parental sense of competence is one of the central dimensions targeted on psychosocial interventions aimed at supporting at‐risk families. Researchers and practitioners need reliable instruments to assess the parental role adapted for these families. Although the parental sense of competence (PSOC) scale has been frequently used to assess this construct, there is still no adapted version for Portuguese parents. In this study, the reliability, validity and factor structure of the PSOC scale is examined with a clinical sample of 146 mothers from at‐risk families receiving psychosocial interventions for family preservation from Child Protective Services. Results show that the Portuguese version of the PSOC measures three distinct constructs with acceptable psychometric properties: efficacy, dissatisfaction and controllability. As expected, the obtained factors were significantly and positively related to parenting alliance and family cohesion, and negatively associated with parenting stress. In sum, the proposed Portuguese version shows reliability and validity evidences to measure three relevant dimensions of parental self‐evaluation, and it constitutes a cost‐ and time‐effective instrument suited for at‐risk mothers.     

Cross-Cultural Validation of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory in Finland: Preliminary Findings of the Study Among Parents Expecting a Baby

ABSTRACT

In order to decrease physical child abuse, measures to recognize parents' abuse potential are needed. In this article, cross-cultural validation of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory, an American measure was used to screen child abuse potential in families. Data were collected in 2012 from Finnish families expecting a baby at maternity and child welfare clinics. The data come from 380 families, including 375 mothers and 303 spouses. The validation was conducted separately for mothers and spouses and was based on basic psychometric properties, such as reliability estimates, abuse scale construct validity, and the abuse scale factor structure. The internal consistency of the abuse scale was high among both the mothers and the spouses. There were some differences in abuse construct validity and the abuse scale factor structure compared to the original measure, which was written in English and tested in an American sample. Those differences were, however, similar to those found by other studies that used translated versions of the inventory. In summary, the CAP Inventory was found to be a valid screening tool for professionals to assess parents' child abuse potential in Finnish service settings, and therefore its implementation is recommended in maternity and child welfare clinics. The validation supports the cross-cultural use of the CAP Inventory and future research on the subject.     

Measuring Self-Appraised Changes following Participation in an Intervention for Caregivers of Individuals with Dementia

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Self-Appraisal of Change Scale, a measure designed to capture domains that are subjectively relevant to caregivers, associated with overall well-being, and amenable to change upon engaging in an intervention. Data from 107 caregivers of veterans with dementia enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a telephone-delivered caregiver psychoeducation and support group program (the Telehealth Education Program (TEP)) were analyzed. The TEP, which was delivered by master’s prepared social workers and a nurse dementia care manager, targeted caregivers’ dementia-related knowledge, attitudes, and self-management skills. Analyses were conducted to determine the factor structure, reliability, validity, and measurement invariance of the scale. Factor analyses yielded a single-factor solution for the scale’s nine items. The reliability and construct validity of the scale were also supported by the analyses. Multi-group analyses suggested that meaningful comparisons of scale items and total raw scores can be made across usual care (UC) and intervention groups. The findings offer preliminary support that the scale may represent a valid and reliable instrument that captures perceived changes in key domains (e.g. caregiving knowledge, attitudes, and skill) following participation in a psychoeducational and support intervention trial.     

Evaluation of the psychometric properties of two scales of work–family conflict among Ghanaian employees

This study examines the psychometric properties of Carlson, Kacmar, and Williams’ (2000) multidimensional scale of work–family conflict and Matthews, Kath, and Barnes-Farrell’s (2010) abbreviated version of the instrument in Ghana. Five hundred and forty-one (541) employees selected from different organizations responded to structured questionnaires administered in English. Results from confirmatory factor analysis supported the six-dimensional factor structure of Carlson et al.’s (2000) measure. The instrument was found to have good internal consistency, adequate convergent validity and discriminant validity, as well as invariance of factor structure across gender. The results also supported the two-dimensional factor structure of Matthews et al.’s (2010) abbreviated version of the work–family conflict scale. The dimensions of work–family conflict on the abbreviated measure correlated strongly with respective dimensions of the original multidimensional version. Latent mean comparisons suggested that men reported more work–family conflict than women on both measures. The study demonstrates the applicability of both the six-dimensional work–family conflict scale and the abbreviated work–family conflict measure for research in Ghana.     

Spanish version of the Parenting Sense of Competence scale: Evidence of reliability and validity

Perceived parenting competence influences parenting practices and is a decisive factor in child development and health. There is a lack of valid and reliable tools in Spain to measure perceived parenting competence. The objective was to adapt the Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC) and analyse its psychometric properties in a sample of 600 mothers of children aged between 6 and 12 months old from Spain. The PSOC was translated into Spanish (PSOC‐E) using a standard forward‐ and back‐translation process. Internal consistency, factor structure, and comparisons between known groups and correlations with other variables were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original two‐factor structure: satisfaction and efficacy. The PSOC‐E showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .85). Perceived parenting competence was negatively associated (P < .01) with parental depression, fatigue, and parental stress and positively associated (P < .01) with dyadic adjustment. An equivalent Spanish version of the PSOC was obtained with good evidence of reliability and validity.     

Emotion Understanding in English- and Spanish-speaking Preschoolers Enrolled in Head Start

Research assessing children's emotion understanding has increased over the past several years. Despite the proliferation of research, there have been few studies conducted examining the development of emotion understanding in children from diverse backgrounds. Further, there has been no research conducted examining the psychometric properties of emotion understanding measures when used with children from diverse backgrounds. A total of 597 preschool children from low‐income families enrolled in Head Start (248 Spanish‐speaking and 349 English‐speaking) were given an emotion understanding assessment in their native language at two sessions separated by six months. All children showed significant growth in emotion understanding abilities from time 1 to time 2, with English‐speaking children generally outperforming Spanish‐speaking children. The psychometric performance of the measure was analyzed for both English and Spanish samples and for English‐speaking children at different levels of language ability.     

SLOF: a behavioral rating scale for assessing the mentally ill

Rating scales for assessing the mentally ill usually focus on the role functioning of clients and their psychiatric symptomatology. This article introduces a rating scale to measure more directly observable behavioral functioning and daily living skills of clients in mental hospitals and in the community. Results are presented from a series of studies designed to test the instrument's psychometric properties.     

The effect of context variables on cognitive effort in multiattribute binary choice

This article reports an empirical investigation of the cognitive effort required to decide in multiattribute binary choice using a variation of the Additive Difference strategy. In contrast with other studies, this paper focuses on the effect of various context variables (rather than task variables) on cognitive effort. In order to select the context variables to be manipulated, we used the model proposed by Shugan (1980; J. Consumer Res. 75 (1980) 99). Our results indicate that there is a positive relationship between the cognitive effort required to decide and the mean of the differences between the dimensions of the choice alternatives. We have also found an inverse relationship between cognitive effort and the variance of the differences between the dimensions of the choice alternatives. Finally, we have found that in negative correlation contexts the effort needed to decide is greater than in positive and null correlation contexts.     

Parent-Child Relationship Disorders

This paper presents a new short-form scale that was designed to measure the degree or severity of a parent-child relationship problem as seen and reported by a parent. The scale was developed for use by clinicians in monitering and evaluating client progress on a case-by-case basis, and the scale had been found to be both reliable and valid. The paper presents scoring instructions for the scale as well as detailed findings concerning its reliability and validity.     

Factorial Validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) in a Sample of Spanish Social Workers

Burnout has been considered important to understanding the well-being of social workers and the quality of the services they render. Despite the ample international usage of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, its psychometric properties have come into question and alternative models of measuring the inventory have been suggested. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and the applicability of a Spanish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) in an incidental sample of 947 social workers. Three alternative models of the MBI-HSS were tested for the purpose of identifying the most suitable model for measuring burnout in Spain. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the theory that the model of three correlated factors was superior to alternative models of one and two factors. The structure of three factors (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) and 19 items showed the best adjustment and a suitable internal consistency of the dimensions of the MBI-HSS. These findings demonstrate that the MBI-HSS has validity and reliability acceptable for measuring burnout in social workers, providing valuable information to the managers of social services in order to reduce burnout among social workers. The limitations of the study and recommendations for future investigation are emphasized.     

Estimating the Effects of Residential Mobility: A Methodological Note

This article reviews the methodological challenges of estimating a causal association between mobility and children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Utilizing a comprehensive set of empirical articles published in the past 25 years that employ quantitative methods, it describes the limitations of previous studies and the innovative ways that researchers have attempted to deal with them. The concept of mobility is inconsistently operationalized along four dimensions: school versus residential, distance, timing, and frequency. Imprecise operationalization conflates different forms of mobility, which have differential effects on development. Attempts to estimate a causal association between mobility and development suffer from three sources of bias: selection, contextual shifts, and contemporaneous instigating events. (a) Methods that account for unobserved differences between mobile and nonmobile children have consistently shown smaller or even positive effects of mobility. (b) Moving can have a positive or negative effect on children's ecological contexts in ways that are systematically correlated with child development. (c) Moves are frequently catalyzed by changes in family structure and employment. The article concludes with recommendations for future research. Researchers should continue to engage fixed- and random-effect, matching, and instrumental variable techniques, each of which makes the question of causality explicit.     

Mother–Child Reminiscing About Peer Experiences and Children's Peer‐related Self‐views and Social Competence

This study examined mother–child reminiscing about children's experiences with peers and its relation to children's peer‐related self‐views and social competence. Sixty‐three mothers and their preschool‐aged children discussed at home two specific past events involving the child and his or her peers, one event being positive and one negative. The children's self‐views in peer relationships were assessed at school during individual interviews, and their social competence was rated by mothers. Both maternal and child participation in the reminiscing, in terms of reminiscing style and content, were uniquely associated with children's peer‐related self‐views and social competence. The results suggest the important role of family narrative practices in children's social development.     

Social Factors in the Development of Autobiographical Memory: The State of the Art

This review addresses theory and research on the role of self understanding, language, theory of mind, attachment security, and parental style in children’s autobiographical memory development. Social‐cognitive factors appear to interact with parental style in producing children’s first verbal memories. Emotional factors, such as attachment security, may also prove to be critical for the socialization of life histories. Further longitudinal studies will be necessary to examine individual differences in the growth of this complex and multiply determined skill.     

Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Graded Care Profile version 2 (GCP2) tool for measuring child neglect

Child neglect is highly prevalent, with extensive effects on children's development and often long‐lasting consequences. It is a complex issue, and the identification and assessment of neglect presents particular difficulties for professionals. The Graded Care Profile (GCP) is a tool that can help practitioners to assess neglect, but the updated version of this tool (GCP2) requires psychometric testing. We sought to test the GCP2 with qualified social work practitioners in the United Kingdom. Interrater reliability was assessed by comparing GCP2 scores between 3 pairs of practitioners following assessments of 30 children. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing GCP2 scores to scores obtained using 2 other validated measures with 15 children. Professionals were surveyed concerning face validity. There was a substantial level of interrater agreement for 2 domains and a moderate level of agreement for the other 2 domains. There were strong correlations between the GCP2 and the other tools across all domains, and face validity results were positive. In conclusion, although this was a small sample, our findings provide preliminary evidence that the GCP2 has adequate psychometric properties pending further rigorous psychometric testing. It is thus likely to be a useful tool in aiding professionals in the assessment of child neglect.     

Biased Mentalizing in Children Aged Seven to 11: Latent Class Confirmation of Response Styles to Social Scenarios and Associations with Psychopathology

A new approach to the measurement of mentalizing is introduced. Instead of measuring the presence or absence of mentalizing capacity, the current study aimed at developing a mentalizing task that focuses on investigating biases in mentalizing through the use of ambiguous peer‐related social scenarios. The response consistency of 659 children was investigated in a community sample of children aged seven to 11. Confirmatory latent class analysis allocated children to three groups on the basis of their responses: an overly positive style (OP), a rational/neutral style (R) or an overly negative style (ON). Children classed as OP showed a greater likelihood of being above cut‐off on a population screen for externalizing disorder. Over a two‐year follow‐up period, the children who were classified as R were most likely to remain so whereas the OP and ON children were found to change group. The results are discussed in the context of social‐cognitive research in this age group. Further studies should examine the external validity of the mentalizing task because the results reported here concern only internal construct validity.     

Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Father Involvement Scale Used in a Retrospective Pretest–Posttest Design

Abstract

Several programs that address responsible fatherhood exist; however, these programs need strategic evaluation and appropriate tools to measure success of the programs. The goal of this research was to understand the structure and psychometric properties of a father involvement measure used to assess the change in parenting and co-parenting behaviors of fathers in a child welfare program. Analyses used secondary data from a father parenting program, with a retrospective pretest–posttest design. Participants were fathers (N?=?361) who attended a parenting program in three large counties in the North Texas region. Missing data diagnosis and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed on 13 items to investigate scale structure and psychometric properties. The following three factors with adequate to good internal consistency emerged: self-efficacy, parenting (emotional and physical support), and co-parenting skills. Fit indices showed good model fit for pretest items and a moderate fit for posttest items. The survey instrument demonstrates potential to be adapted to diverse populations, other languages and cultures to further expand program components. Based on the findings, future research should utilize more items to enhance the alpha reliability of the scales. Furthermore, revised scales can be validated across diverse populations based on socioeconomic, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds.